This very easy cake needs to happen in your kitchen. It's a moist layer of lemon cake with fresh blueberries and a streusel topping made with oil that is crunchy and so amazing! Both the cake and crumble are made from the same mixture. A simple recipe that keeps well and can be frozen.
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Originally published in February 2013, this post has been updated with images and text to serve you better. I added blueberries to the original recipe.
I debated whether to call it crumb cake or coffee cake because it's a bit of both.
It has the crumb layer and the dense, sour cream amazingness of a coffee cake, similar to the Apple Crumb Coffee Cake or my personal favorite Pumpkin Coffee Cake recipe.
And it's best enjoyed at room temperature, which is key for both types of cake.
A splash of sunshine in the middle of winter or a great summer recipe, this moist cake tastes as good as it looks.
Full of crunchy, juicy seasonal blueberries, tangy lemon zest and juice, and a tender crumb that is ridiculously easy to make.
This cake is made from a crumb mixture that's divided, some for the topping, and the rest mixed with a few other ingredients to make a sort of coffee cake. Well, it's truly amazing.And did I mention it's a one bowl recipe ? For some reason, I find it all very appealing.
Plus, some flavors work year-round and on every occasion. Lemon paired with blueberries is one of them.
Ingredient list
- Blueberries: fresh or frozen, they both work perfectly well. But during blueberry season, they're usually sweeter.
- Lemon: this recipe uses both lemon zest and fresh lemon juice.
- Vegetable oil: I like a neutral one like sunflower, but most oils work well, even olive or coconut oil.
- Sour cream: use the regular type, full-fat sour cream. It adds richness and moisture.
- Egg: fresh, large.
- All-purpose or cake flour.
- Salt: I like to use kosher salt when baking. But regular table salt works just fine.
- Baking powder and baking soda: make sure they're not expired.
- White granulated sugar.
- Vanilla: I use pure vanilla extract or pure vanilla paste when available, but a good vanilla essence (artificially flavored) also works and is infinitely cheaper.
See the recipe card towards the end of this post for quantities.
Substitutions
- Melted butter: a substitute for the oil for a more traditional streusel topping. Use the same amount of unsalted butter and follow the same instructions.
- Brown sugar: you can substitute for the white, same amount. It will give the cake a golden hue.
- Cinnamon: complements the rest of the flavors and adds a warmer tone to the cake. Any ground cinnamon you typically use works fine. I like Frontier Vietnamese cinnamon and Simply Organic Ceylon cinnamon.
- Orange: use it instead of lemon for a sweeter, less sharp cake. Or use it in addition to lemon, half of each for a mellower lemon flavor.
The crumb mixture
- It's used for both the cake batter and the crumb topping.
- It's made with oil, so it comes together really fast.
- It's the perfect alternative if you can't eat butter or want a vegan crumb mixture.
I might use it from now on for other recipes, that's how good it is.
I usually use butter for my fruit crumbles, the old-fashioned way, but using oil was a wonderfully pleasant surprise. Might I even say it bakes crisper? I might, indeed.
All ingredients go into a medium mixing bowl. I use my hands or a fork to mix. But a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or pastry cutter also work well.
The crumble usually has large clumps. Part of this mixture is reserved for the topping.
The cake batter
The remaining ingredients are added to the remaining streusel mix and beaten until smooth.
Assembling this blueberry cake is easy: spread the cake batter, scatter blueberries, and sprinkle the reserved streusel.
Vintage Kitchen tip: don't overmix the cake batter, especially if using an electric mixer. This cake is moist and dense, not super fluffy. But overbeating will make it clump after it's baked.
Baking
- Parchment paper: line the pan with a strip of wax or parchment paper that's as wide as the pan and long enough to cover two sides. This means that the bottom and two sides will be covered. The other two will only be greased. When ready to remove the cake, lift the whole piece with the help of the paper. Especially if using a pan without a removable bottom.
- Cake tester or toothpick: even though it's a very moist cake when the tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, remove it from the oven.
- Sinking middle: the crumbly nature of this recipe makes it a dense cake, with a slight depression in the middle most of the time.
- Blueberries: as they bake, they release juices that moisten the cake and the golden brown topping.
Flavor variations
As with most recipes containing citrus and berries, you can mix and match. My favorites for this cake:
- Lime and strawberry - a favorite combination of this blog since we made the Strawberry Danish Braid, it has freshness and tang at the same time.
- Orange and blackberries - another combo that surprised us when we made the Blackberry Muffin Loaf. It makes for a sweeter cake.
- Lemon and Raspberries - a classic that never fails. The acid in the raspberries is perfect to balance the richness of this crumb cake.
- Plain citrus cake - forgo the berries and make this a lemon cake. Or lime.
Kitchen notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer(like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Flour mixture: this is made up of flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. They are part of the dry ingredients. This mix can be substituted by self-rising flour with good results, usually. I say usually because self-rising flour varies from one country and brand to the other and might have different amounts of salt and baking powder in the ingredients. And we can't control that.
- Mixer: I like to use a medium bowl for the streusel topping, a large bowl for mixing the final cake, and an electric mixer, hand-held. You can use the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, but it's not recommended. This is a small cake, and most stand mixers are meant for larger amounts of batter.
- Blueberry muffins: you can make this blueberry crumb cake recipe into muffins. They will be sort of blueberry coffee cake muffins if you ask me. Gorgeous! The yield would be around 12.
- Serving it: I highly recommend eating it at room temperature to let the flavors shine. But keep it refrigerated if not eating it all at once. I love it as a breakfast cake to be eaten the next morning after it's baked. I find the flavors are better.
Related recipes you might like:
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Blueberry Crumb Cake
A mix of crumb and coffee cake, it's moist, fresh, lemony, with juicy blueberries and a crunchy topping. An easy recipe that keeps well.
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 squares
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose or cake flour
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
- Powdered sugar and additional fresh berries for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325ºF /170ºC.
- Lightly butter or spray a non-stick 8 or 9-inch round or square pan.
- In a bowl, stir flour, sugars, zest and cinnamon.
- Make a hole in the middle, add oil and lemon juice and mix with a fork until flour is evenly moistened and the mixture forms clumps. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture in a separate bowl.
- To the remaining mixture, add egg, sour cream, vanilla, baking powder and baking soda.
- Mix well with an electric mixer at low speed until the batter is smooth.
- Spread in prepared pan, scatter blueberries on top and sprinkle with reserved cup of crumb mixture.
- Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes, or until dry, golden and a tester inserted comes out clean. If the top is browning too quickly, tent with a piece of aluminum foil until it's done.
- Let cool on a wire rack.
- Lightly sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the cake or use a lemon glaze (recipe below) and serve.
Notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer(like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Flour mixture: this is made up of flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. They are part of the dry ingredients. This mix can be substituted by self-rising flour with good results, usually. I say usually because self-rising flour varies from one country and brand to the other and might have different amounts of salt and baking powder in the ingredients. And we can't control that.
- Mixer: I like to use a medium bowl for the streusel topping, a large bowl for mixing the final cake, and an electric mixer, hand-held. You can use the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, but it's not recommended. This is a small cake, and most stand mixers are meant for larger amounts of batter.
- Butter: if you want to make a buttery cake, you can substitute the oil. Use ½ cup of melted unsalted butter, and proceed as instructed.
- Blueberry muffins: you can make this blueberry crumb cake recipe into muffins. They will be sort of blueberry coffee cake muffins if you ask me. Gorgeous! The yield would be around 12.
- Storing: It keeps for a few days at room temperature. You can freeze it for a month, well wrapped. I recommend you warm it slightly in a 325° oven for a few minutes after defrosting.
- Glaze: you can add a tart lemon glaze instead of the dusting of powdered sugar. Mix ¾ cup of powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice and drizzle over the cooled cake. Let dry before serving.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/12
- Calories: 299
- Sugar: 25.9 g
- Sodium: 128.1 mg
- Fat: 12.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 44.3 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4.1 g
- Cholesterol: 22.2 mg
Keywords: blueberry crumb cake
Adapted from an old Bon Appetit magazine
Liz says
I'd eat this beauty for breakfast and then again for dessert! This flavor combo cannot be beat!
Paula Montenegro says
I would too Liz! Have a great day my friend!
Melissa says
Hi Paula, this Blueberry Crumb Cake is Amazing!! Thank you so much!! I've tried many recipes, and this one is for sure the "keeper" if I was wanting to use the same recipe minus the blueberries/lemon zest for a coffee cake what do you suggest? Add more cinnamon?
★★★★★
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Melissa, so happy to hear this! Isn't the crumble with oil amazing?
You can really flavor it with any citrus or spice. For a plain crumb cake omit the lemon and blueberries and increase the vanilla and cinnamon for sure. You can also add some pure almond flavor or another ground spice like apple pie mix or a pinch of cardamom that goes very well with cinnamon.
Jahanzaib Khan says
Paula, This crumb cake looks so wonderful… What a nice treat! Hope things will run more smoothly very soon (work and all.
★★★★★
Paula Montenegro says
Thanks!
Kathy says
Paula, This crumb cake looks so wonderful…would love to have a piece with my morning cup of tea! It would make my morning perfect!
Andrea_TheKitchenLioness says
Paula, your Lemon Crumb cake would be a perfect breakfast teat for me as well - have to agree with your dad there. I always enjoy a slice of "Coffee Cake" in the mornig. What a nice treat! Hope things will run more smoothly very soon (work and all)!
Baker Street says
Blueberry! Crumb! Cake! You are saying all the right words, Paula! Heh. Excellent recipe. 🙂